KUALA BESUT, July 17 — The centre of the nation’s attention for 12 days, the quiet town Kuala Besut has seen its serenity shattered by the flood of politicians eager for hands to shake and photos to take.

But the presence of the many Tan Sris and Datuks only serves to remind some residents of how the little town, once a haven for the local fishing industry, has fallen victim to what local fishermen described as neglect and corruption within the ranks of lawmakers. 

What had been a major fishing spot, Kuala Besut now plays second fiddle to neighbouring Tok Bali.

According to former fishermen met by The Malay Mail Online yesterday, fishing is no longer a viable career among the locals, with many turning to fish trading and tourism instead.

“The idyllic story of fishermen in Terengganu is ‘indah khabar dari rupa’,” said a fisherman-turned-trader who only wished to be known as Yie. In English, an equivalent phrase would be “Nice from far, but far from nice”.

Yie, 39, is one of the many local Malay men who wake up as early as 5am daily to buy fish sourced from other ports in the west coast states of Perak and Perlis, to resell in the Fisheries Development Authority of Malaysia (LKIM) complex here.

Previously a complex for fishing boats to land their catch, the complex has now been virtually converted into a fish market after mooring boats have all but disappeared in the last 10 years.

“Before this it was 70 per cent landing, 30 per cent marketing. Now it’s pretty much 100 per cent marketing,” Yie said, pointing at the many boxes of fishes stacked across the complex as men with trolleys zipped in between them.

The reason for the nation’s eyes suddenly being on the sleepy coastal town? The death of its Barisan Nasional (BN) assemblyman, Dr A. Rahman Mokhtar, which triggered a by-election scheduled for this July 24.

BN’s rival, PAS, had in recent days blamed the ruling coalition for the problem of sand silting in Kuala Besut’s estuary, which they said has badly affected the local fishermen.

In response, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin announced yesterday that Putrajaya has committed itself to a RM250 million river dredging project to remedy previous failed attempts.

Mat Jamil said local fishermen cannot compete with the modern fishing trawlers manned by crews from Thailand up north.

“That is actually an old story. The sand is the least of our concern,” said a trader who called himself Mat Jamil, laughing.

What is the main problem now? 

“Siamese boats,” he replied.

According to Mat Jamil, 58, local fishermen just cannot compete with the modern fishing trawlers manned by crews from Thailand up north, which he said are “10 years ahead” in terms of technology.

Those boats are the ones that land their catch in Tok Bali, driving up the port’s growth. At the same time, their efficiency has affected the catch of local fishermen, who mostly used smaller-class boats.

“Before, we could get up RM30,000 to 40,000 worth of fish per trip. Now we’re lucky to get between RM2,000 and 3,000,” said Yie.

Mat Jamil blamed the proliferation of these Thai-manned boats on the award of fishing licences, which is handled by a small group of politicians. These licences allow fishing boats to ply in Malaysian waters and let them land their fishes in ports like Tok Bali.

He explained that a fishing licence for a C2-class trawler — like the Thai-manned boats — costs RM3,000 per month, when it used to be RM5,000. 

Few local fishermen are ever awarded the licence, and sometimes there were freeze on awards, said local trader Pak Li, 50, who had just arrived from Perak.

Furthermore, Thai ship crews are cheaper to hire which drove out competition from the locals, said Yie who had to rent out his boat to another crew based in Kuantan.

“We’re being crowded out because the government allows these boats to land their catch in Tok Bali, unlike in Perak or Perlis,” said Mat Jamal.

“The Chinese fishermen there have very strong unions. They would not even allow Siamese boats to land on their ports,” he added.

Pak Li said that it would be impossible for Kuala Besut to return to its former glory as a fishing haven.

A visit by The Malay Mail Online to Tok Bali, around 20 minutes’ drive away across the Kelantan border, showed a very different picture.

The Tok Bali town has a new LKIM complex upstream, about 10 times bigger than Kuala Besut’s. The road towards the complex was lined with support industry, such as food product factories and boat repair docks.

By 8am, several C2-class trawlers had started mooring, with Kelantanese men unloading while Thai crewmembers waited on the dock.

A number of tudung-clad Kelantanese women lined up to sort fishes, while their Thai-speaking sisters handled the trade of hundreds of boxes of fishes from mackerels to marlins.

“These are all Siamese,” said Zahid, 30, while he sorted fishes from a boat into boxes. “Our people are mostly in Terengganu,” he said, referring to the Malays.

In the run-up to the by-election, Putrajaya has offered to build a new fish market to help boost the economy of poverty-stricken Kuala Besut.

“What’s the point? What will happen to this complex? A drug addicts’ nest?” asked Pak Li, gesturing towards the LKIM complex.

“Pity, in the 1990s this place was like a festival at night. Boats were coming in one by one. Surrounding restaurants were booming,” said Yie, pointing to the “ikan bakar” (grilled fish) complex nearby.

On his side, Pak Li nodded, conceding that it would be impossible for Kuala Besut to return to its former glory as a fishing haven.

“Us fishermen here, ‘hidup segan, mati tak mahu’,” he said, quoting a Malay idiom describing someone who is torn between life and death.

Satisfied with the profit of his trade with Yie, Pak Li sped away in his lorry, as the morning daybreak shone over rows and rows of vacant boats left along Sungai Besut, left to rot.

Part of the Malay community who makes up 98 per cent of Kuala Besut folks, it is estimated that there are over 1,000 fishermen in the constituency. The state seat has 17,679 registered voters.